Smile for the camera! The quirky and cute sloths are about to star in their own documentary

We are used to welcoming lazy, chubby sloths into our homes via the TV set.

Jim Royle manages to impart some life lessons from the comfort of his chair, Rab C Nesbitt amuses us with his unemployed, alcoholic life, and even Homer Simpson manages to have adventures despite wanting nothing more than his sofa and a Duff beer.

But now Meet the Sloths - a cheeky family of mammals predicted to become the new meerkats when their documentary launches next week.

What you looking at? The sloths will have to get used to stardom once their show goes out to UK audiences

These lovable tree-huggers live in the confines of a Costa Rican sanctuary and spend their days hanging off a climbing frame, or getting bathed by their human carers.

The documentary was the brain-child of Lucy Cooke, whose clips of sloths on YouTube were watched by six million people.

Meet the Sloths, which has already aired in the States, premiers on Animal Planet UK on Sunday.

On SlothVille.com, Lucy says she had her first encounter with sloths when she visited Aviarios, near Limon in Costa Rica, which is the world's only sloth orphanage.

Sloths of the past: Homer Simpson and Jim Royle have spent years entertaining us with their lazy ways

She said: 'I traveled 5,000 miles to a sleepy corner of Costa Rica to meet an animal I first saw on Youtube.

'I made my own little video about the sanctuary sloths, “Meet the Sloths”, which went viral within days.

'The video has now been watched by over six million people and gathered famous fans like Ashton Kutcher, Ricky Gervais and most recently Kristen Bell.'

The two-minute clip bought attention to the Sloth Sanctuary, founded by husband and wife team Luis and Judy Arroyo.

The couple, along with volunteers, teach visitors about the way of the Sloth, and passengers from passing cruise ships regularly make a stop at the sanctuary.

There they can help feed and clean the sloths, who usually arrive at the orphanage after being hit by cars or being electrocuted by overhead cables.

All grown up: The sloths started life in the orphanage, but are now flourishing as TV and web stars